M-gold:

I am not in zone 6 but zone 5 (S.E. WI). I grow tomatoes every year from seed. Some seed I buy and on some of my open pollinated heirlooms I save my own seed. I start my tomato seeds around April 10-12th every year and usually transplant them to the garden around May 25th. I like to harden them off for a week before putting them in the garden or the leaves can fry off in the sunlight or scorch badly.

I start mine in the basement under fluorescent lights. I run the lights from 5:30 AM-9:00 PM. A week before I want to plant them out, I put them outside in a shaded area for 2 days, them move into part shade then full sun to gradually harden them off before planting.

I plant mine into cheap Styrofoam cups (punch some drain holes in the bottom first!). I fertilize perhaps twice with a liquid fertilizer at 1/2 strength during this growing time as needed. You can plant into 1801 cell trays too which are commonly available. Or if you are real frugal and think ahead, save all the coffee cups from buying coffee to go on the road and re-use them. I did that for a few years when I did a lot of traveling. No use buying what you already have access to.

Normally I would say start them from seed about 6 weeks before whatever is a safe frost free planting date for your area. Tomatoes are fast growing so I find no need to start them sooner than that.

Wonderful information. Thank you. Are you using some specific fluorescent lights or just any indoor lights?

Can I use the sun just the same or won't it work as well?

I didn't use any fertilizer in my garden last year. Is there an organic brand you recommend?

how many seeds to you place in each old coffee cup?

I buy a bunch of small plastic planters (single Tomatoe transplant size) and put 2 seeds in each one. I leave them in the house while keeping the soil from drying out. Once the seedlings sprout, I put them outside in full sun then bring em in overnight, I transplant when they are about 6 inches tall.

I started mine a week ago. They take about 5-6 weeks to reach transplant size. Start yours 6 weeks before temps get about 50 degrees at night.

:)

m-gold

I used to use cool white bulbs but I believe that last bulbs I got were more daylight in rating. Since they are only under the lights for such a short time, I do not think it will matter so much. I have used both types successfully.

If growing a lot of tomatoes, it would work best to start your seeds in a small container in rows. When the first true leaves come out, then carefully dig them up and plant one tomato per pot.

If you are only growing a few pots of tomatoes, then you could direct seed 3 seeds per pot. Place them near the middle of the pot. If more than one germinates, then just pinch off (or use a scissors) the unwanted ones near the soil base and leave only one alive per pot (pick out the biggest healthiest seedling to keep).

I should mention to keep the seedlings as close to the light as possible. The leaves should not touch the light bulbs (will burn) so lower the plants or raise the light source as the plants get larger. I keep mine about 3"-4" below the light source.

No you do not need lights to grow the tomatoes. They can be grown in a sunny window. The issue with using a window (south side best) is that the tomatoes will get tall and leggy if they do not get sufficient light levels for enough hours each day.

In my youth the first tomato plants we grew were place by a south window. As the tomatoes bent towards the light as they grew, we would turn the pots in an attempt to try and keep them straight. It works but not nearly as good as supplying light artificially (fluorescent lighting).

I told you I was frugal. The best organic fertilizer? Compost if you make your own and manure. I have access to 3 year aged horse manure free for the hauling. Since we have rabbits, their droppings are really good too.

That being said, I often use some supplemental fertilizer for nitrogen (if needed) during the growing season by banding a granular product down my plant rows. 10-10-10 works great. 5-10-5 too. Depends on what you have on hand and what is available to you the cheapest. IF you have just a few tomatoes, a liquid fertilizer works too. Let the plant tell you if it is hungry. If the leaves are not so green and growth poor then add nitrogen. If not, let it be.

Here are my dates: http://www.petersgarden.info/blog/indoor-seed-starting-dates

It is really too late to start anything indoors at this point, except Tomatoes yes would definitely be ok to start now, basil, and maybe Eggplant would be ok to start ASAP.

There are still tons of options for starting things directly outdoors.

Have you checked out all the FAQs and tip discussions over on the Growing from Seed forum here? They cover all the basics.

Dave

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/seed

Thank you Dave!

I don't think you should use soil from your garden.

Which soil do I use?

I use organic potting soil and it works great.

Again all these basic questions are covered in the FAQs and discussions on the Growing from Seed forum - lights, potting mix to use, how to water, when to start, how to feed, etc.. For seed starting you use any soil-less potting mix. No soil, no potting soil. If you don't find the answer you want in the FAQs then just type your question in the search bar there and it will pull up all the discussions about your question.

Dave

@M_gold I use seed starting mix, but the point is to use something "soiless".

Didgdirt I checked out the seed starting forum; does it's have it's OWN faq? Maybe the faq has a seed starting part. I'll go see.

Here it is!

Growing from seed faq

And

What type of soil in flats?